Kodak R-27 Grey Card and other Options

[Brett Allbritton]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to get a few perspectives on grey cards. I currently own a cheap Neewer card that has worked fine for my purposes so far, but I've always wondered how accurate it is. Because I intend to test some film stocks soon, I want to find one that I know is perfect.

I've been thinking about getting the Kodak R-27 card, but the price tag of $27 for a piece of cardboard has made me hesitant to do so. I can't help but think that if I'm going to pay money for a reference like this, maybe I should look at other options as well.

Does anyone have any grey card recommendations as well as advice on using one?

 

Thanks.

[Bill DiPietra]

I've been using the X-Rite Color Checker for years and it meets all my needs. Quality costs, but it's worth it in the long run.

[Brett Allbritton]

Thanks, Bill. That's certainly what I'm looking for: quality that gives me objective results.

I'm curious now though that I just read Art Adams' article on the X-Rite Color Checker vs the DSC Labs OneShot which he designed, as he mentions that it includes a scale of common skin tones as well as RGB and CMY which line up more accurately with a vectorscope than those on the Color Checker. Then I noticed that the Kodak Grey Card Plus appears to have been similarly designed, and is also slightly cheaper. Has anyone used these three and can speak to the differences?